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Show Vol. VII, No. 18 Weber water users attack plan to downgrade Silver Creel A request by the Snyderville Basin Sewer District that Silver Creek be reclassified to allow higher concentration concentra-tion of ammonia and chlorine has touched off protests from health officials in Weber and Davis Counties. The district has asked the Utah Water Pollution Control Committee to reclassify Silver Creek from 3A (protection of cold-water fish) to 3C (protection of nongame fish). According Accord-ing to District Manager Bruce Decker, the application is part of the groundwork being done for the construction of a sewage treatment plant in the Silver Creek Junction area. "It's more so we know the direction to go in designing the Silver Creek Plant than anything else," he said. Here are the latest snowfall measurements and ski conditions reported by the three Park City-area resorts. EWSOW Deer Park Park Valley City West Thursday, January 14 0 0 1" Friday, January 15 5" 4" 2" Saturday, January 16 trace trace trace Sunday, January 17 0 0 0 Monday, January 18 0 0 0 Tuesday, January 19 4" 5" 4" Wednesday, January 20 4" 2" 4" CURRENT CONDITIONS Deer Valley reports 61 inches at the 8,200-foot level, 81 inches at 9,400 feet. All runs were open Wednesday except Lucky Bill. Park City reports 87 inches total, measured at Jupiter Bowl. On Wednesday, 67 of 69 runs were open. Waterfall and Glory Hole were closed. Park West reports 90 inches of snow, measured at the top of the mountain. Five of seven lifts are operating during the week. Slaughterhouse Slaughter-house and Tumbleweed are open only on weekends. Night skiing has been cancelled. On Tuesdays and Thursday, ladies can receive a free-two hour lesson with the price of a lift ticket. The low temperature for the period was 8 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded Thursday at Parley's Park Elementary School. The high was 38 degrees, measured Thursday and again Tuesday. FORECAST The National Weather Service calls for snow Thursday, tapering off to scattered snow Friday and snow showers during the weekend. Winds are expected from the southwest, with gusts reaching 20 to 30 miles per hour on the ridge tops. Afternoon temperatures will be in the !5-to-25-degree range, climbing into the low 30s by Sunday. Utah Legislature Bills could be bad news for Park City "I wish I could tell you more, but nobody really understands it." So said Mayor Jack Green Tuesday about a number of confusing bills that have been introduced in the legislature that could significantly reduce Park City's sales tax revenue. About six bills relating to sales tax have been introduced in this budgetary session of the Utah Legislature, he said. Currently, Utah law provides that three-quarters of one percent of the sales tax collected in the state be returned to local governments to be spent at their discretion. That revenue, known as the local option sales tax, is returned to those areas where the tax was generated, or at the point of sale. Based on the current formula, Park City is expected to collect about $500,000 in sales tax revenue in 1982. But that figure could change significantly. As in the past sessions of the legislature, attempts are currently being made to overturn this point-of-sale formula. Legislators who represent repre-sent districts where there is little in the way of retail sales argue that the local option sales tax should be distributed on a population basis. That means that areas such as Park City, which have well-developed commercial commer-cial districts, would have to share their revenue with sales-tax-poor communities. communi-ties. Further, it means that Park City, which depends on the revenues to help provide services to as many as 10,000 people during the winter, would Read The Newspaper guide to the U.S. Film and Video Festival beginning on Page Bl . Decker explained that the reclassification reclassifi-cation of the stream would reduce the construction costs of the proposed plant by allowing it to discharge effluent containing higher concentrations concentra-tions of ammonia and chlorine than are allowed under the 3A classification. "Every treatment plant puts out ammonia," he said. "It's a matter of the level." Silver Creek, a tributary of the Weber River, has long contained high concentrations of lead and zinc because of mine tailings picked up in the Park City area. Wildlife officials concede that, in its present state, it may not be able to sustain a cold-water fish population. "We're asking that the stream be receive its proportion of sales tax revenues based on a full-time population popula-tion of 2,823. Last year, a bill sponsored by Carl Saunders, a Weber County Republican was introduced which suggested using a formula based on both point-of-sale and population. That bill was passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but it later was vetoed by Gov. Scott Matheson. Saunders is back again this year with House Bill 74. It provides that the three-quarters of one percent local option sales tax be repealed. Instead, he suggests that the additional percentage be distributed by the State Tax Commission on a quarterly basis on a strictly population basis, beginning begin-ning in October 1982. "If that bill passes, we will lose 88 percent of our sales tax revenue in October," said Mayor Green. Less offensive is House Bill 25, which Saunders is co-sponsoring with G. LaMont Richards. That bill provides that the local option sales tax be reduced by one half of one percent, and that the state sales tax increase by the same amount. Those revenues from the state increase would then be distributed to local governments based on a point-of-sale and population formula that would be phased in over a five-year period. According to that formula, then, by July 1, 1987, one-half of one percent of the sales tax revenue Thursday, January 21, 1982 recognized for what it is, really," Decker said. He pointed out that the reclassification reclassifica-tion pertains only to its ability to sustain fish, and not to its ability to be used for culinary purposes. According to Decker, the reclassification reclassifi-cation would apply to a seven-mile stretch between Silver Creek Junction and the point where the stream joins the Weber River north of Wanship. He said that, for most of that stretch, the stream runs between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Interstate 80. "Nobody uses it much for recreation," recrea-tion," he said. "The use is so tiny, it's negligible." In defending the district's position, Decker points to a recent letter from Calvin Sudweeks, director of the State Bureau of Water Pollution Control. "The 3A standards are only more restrictive than the 3C standards with respect to ammonia and chlorine," Sudweeks said. "These constituents would be quickly diffused or dissa-pated dissa-pated and would have no impact on the Weber River as a drinking water source." In an interview with the Ogden Standard-Examiner, Davis County Environmental Health Director Richard Harvey agreed that the contamination from the proposed plant would be minimal. However, he expressed concern that the reclassification reclassifi-cation would set a dangerous precedent prece-dent for the downgrading of other Weber River tributaries. Harvey's opinion is shared by William Geer, an aquatic resource analyst with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. "In many cases, individual projects won't make a difference by themselves," them-selves," Geer told the Newspaper. "But cumulatively they make a big difference. It's not logical to say we can sacrifice that stream because it's small." Geer argued that downgrading Silver Creek may, in effect, establish a de facto policy for the Weber drainage as a whole. "Those things have a way of blowing up in your face." He says that Silver Creek was planted with cutthroat trout about a year ago. "There are trout in there, but whether it's a fishable population, we don't know." collected by the state will be distributed to local governments on a strictly population basis. The bill further provides that local governments will have the ability to levy an additional one-quarter of one percent local option tax that will be distributed on a point-of-sale basis. Therefore, by 1987 it would be possible for a municipality to have one-half of one percent sales tax returned on a point-of-sales basis, and the same amount returned on a population basis. Confused yet? In simple terms, the passage of HB 25 would mean that Park City would lose $58,000 the first year, and up to $210,000 by 1987. Still, the lesser of two evils is HB 25, which is being supported by the Utah League of Cities and Towns, of which Park City is a member. On the face of it, it's hard to believe that Park City has joined in the support of a bill that will severely reduce its revenues. But there's a method to the madness. According to Mayor Green, Park City, Salt Lake, Alta and Brianhead all are supporting HB 25, even though they will be adversely affected by it. It is believed that if the bill fails this year, a more crippling one will be introduced next year, when a redisricting in the legislature will place the reins of power in rural areas. The fear is that those sales tax poor areas will have .TIDCBD0 Li Park City, Utah He recalled that one mining company com-pany had announced plans to dredge tailings from the stream bed and reclaim segments of Silver Creek, making it more habitable for game fish. Geer said the Division of Wildlife Resources has established a position opposed to the reclassification of Silver Creek. However, he indicated the official policy statement will come later from the Utah Department of Natural Resources. According to Bruce Decker, a reclassification of Silver Creek would save between $100,000 and $400,000 in construction costs for the new plant. However, that savings would not directly benefit the district. "This plant will be funded and built by the developers who will benefit from having it down there," he said. Decker said the tentative plans call for the creation of a special improvement improve-ment district to include the boundaries of the proposed Silver Creek industrial park and the Sandstone Ridge subdivision. subdi-vision. Developers of those projects would, in effect, pay for the construction construc-tion of the first phase of the plant. However, Decker indicated that the sewer district as a whole stands to benefit from a sewer plant in the Silver Creek area. He said a trunk line could eventually be run into the Prospector Square-Park Meadows area. "We could eliminate two pump stations out there," he said. Under the present timetable, construction con-struction on the Silver Creek plant will begin in the spring of 1983 and end about a year later. According to Decker, the present pace of construction in the Park City-Snyderville area is forcing the district to consider expansion in the near future. "If constiuction stays at or near the level we were at last year, we would have to have something on line by the middle of 1983." He said the present treatment facility has an average capacity of 1.9 million gallons a day. Last year, the plant treated about 1.25 million gallons gal-lons daily. "The writing's on the wall," he said. What would happen if this capacity is reached before construction of a new plant is completed? "We would not be able to allow any more connections," he said. enough clout to pass an even more damaging bill in the future. While Park City is supporting the bill, it is pushing for an amendment that will give those cities hardest hit a larger share of the pot during the phase-in period. Mayor Green said that Rep. Saunders has agreed to an amendment, since he feels it won't jeopardize the passage of the bill. Right now, both bills are in the House Rules Committee. The League of Cities and Towns will continue to push for House passage of HB 25, provided it includes the provision to increase the local option sales tax by one-quarter of one percent. If the House passes the bill without the provision, the League then will push for a defeat of the bill by the Senate, said Green. The League as a whole, however, is not that concerned about the amendment. amend-ment. If the bill passes without it, will Park City break away from the League and push for Senate defeat? "That's a consideration, but we wouldn't want to do it," said Green. If any of the bills pass, it won't be good news for Park City. "We'll have to make up the loss of revenue in some way, or cut services, ' ' said Green. He does see a silver lining to the cloud of sales tax bills. "The more that are introduced, the less change there is of them passing," he said. mMmmmmmm mmmfyr4 Mtin " '""'1 -iwiMiiM m.i t A ' V ,- " - I "V ' " f V? I J i l- " if ' i 4 I f mmmxmm mmmm::m wm-:&&: & v. ). r. ( " ' - x ' i f ' ' 'i ' ; ' ' fl t : " ' "i I , . : -'"' :S r' ' , ' , , '4 if- r ' Stanley Kramer is ready to speak out again by Rick Brough What ever happened to Stanley Kramer? "I've been contemplating my naval, the last few years," he said. The 70s were a baffling time for one of filmdom's most socially-conscious artists. It was a time for self-reflection. But Kramer talks now as if his batteries are recharged, and he is ready to speak out, personally and professionally, on the issues. He has a long history of speaking out. Throughout the '50s and the '60s, Kramer produced and directed movies that held out a protest or a hope. Because of films like "High Noon", "The Defiant Ones", and "Judgment at Nuremburg", Kramer has been awarded this year's John Ford Medallion by the U.S. Film and Video Festival. A spokesman for the festival said Kramer would be present at the Medallion dinner on January the 30th to accept the award. Previous Medallion Medal-lion winners have included John Wayne, Frank Capra, and Henry Fonda. Awards usually signal the end of a career. But not in Kramer's case. He feels deeply involved in today's problems. (In Seattle, where he now lives, he writes a newspaper column about current events, not movies.) "I'm not too sure of a great many things," he said. "I don't believe in some things as much as I did." He doesn't have the answers, but he's still got some angry questions. He objects, for instance, to the way Washington is funding the military at the expense of other needs in the country. "Their attitude is, the arts can have hind tit," he said. "We're cutting off our birth-rights by these cuts in education, old-age payments. My daughter's school has the same number num-ber of teachers, but twice as many students, because the school down the street had to close. This is where it hits you, on the local level." He also worries about the nuclear arms race. It is "palpable nonsense", he said, to believe you can defend yourself against a nuclear war or survive it in tunnels. "I keep asking if we get a piece of statesmanship out of all this chaos," he said. Three Sections, 36 Pages Kramer Kramer has been attacked as the Hubert Humphrey of film-makers, the fatuous liberal with simplistic solutions. "They said I wasn't a director; I was a social worker." Kramer said his attitude to criticism has evolved over the years. "When I was young, it took me two weeks to recover from a bad review," he said. "Later, I wished I could get a cement overcoat for these guys. Now, I'm in my 'miudle dotage' and one Bufferin takes care of it." Perhaps it's because Kramer is his own toughest critic. He said he is not wholly satisfied with any of his pictures. "You aspire to a good deal creatively and you never get to the highest point." Kramer's films have been ahead of their time in some respects. When he made the nuclear-holocaust film "On the Beach", some scientists objected to the premise that radioactivity from atomic explosions would spread over the planet. "But when our Mount St. Helens erupted, the ash blew over as far as Europe." He also recalled how the State Department objected when he wanted to premiere "Judgement at Nuremburg" Nurem-burg" in Nuremburg. "They asked me, 'Why do you want to bring that up all over again?' But now, after the success in Germany of the TV show 'Holocaust', 'Holo-caust', the young people there are begiriing to ask their parents, 'What did you do?'", he said Another film he feels good about was one of his biggest critical failures "RPM", his statement about the 'GOs student movement. Anthony Quinn starred as a liberal professor who is made the dean of an embattled campus. "Quinn was me," said Kramer. "He was the Establishment. He thought he could negotiate with these kids holding a library building. But he had to decide if he was going to protect this computer they were threatening to destroy And he ended up cluing the one thing he said he would never do-calling the police." Quinn's efforts collapse in violence, and at the end of the film, the frustrated college trustees ask Quinn what it is the kids want, "And Quinn says, 'They don't want us to sleep at night! Because if we can sleep with Kramer to B4 |